Canadian Ambassador in the Dominican Republic Adam Blackwell and the president of the Dominican-Canadian Chamber of Commerce Fernando Rainieri met with the press last week and revealed that 1.5% of people living in Canada visited the Dominican Republic in 2003. “I know that these are difficult times, but we have to look at the positive side, find areas of excellence and build on these with determination and energy,” said Blackwell. He mentioned that 115 flights arrive from Canada to Dominican airports each week, translating to 400,000 Canadian visitors per season and increased traffic this winter season by nearly 50% over last year. “What is incredible is that these flights are coming from all the provinces and two territories. Some of these take more time than transatlantic flights,” he said, highlighting that this is the second boom of Canadian tourism to the Dominican Republic. He said that Fernando Rainieri, the president of the Dominican-Canadian Chamber of Commerce, frequently reminds him that Canadians were the pioneers of tourism in Puerto Plata, where tourism got its first start in the country. Now, 25 years later, a new wave of popularity has surged bringing hundreds of thousands of Canadian tourists. During the meeting, Blackwell announced Canadian efforts to contribute to the design of a strategic plan for the area, for which he praised the efforts of the DR’s Tourism Ministry. Blackwell explained that Canadians are not only coming because of the increased value of their money given the depreciation of the peso or because of the cold Canadian winters. “They are coming because there is a great affinity with Dominicans because they find a hardworking and hospitable people, there is important infrastructure, great variety of accommodation offers, beaches, mountains, golf courses, culture and history,” he said. Blackwell hopes to move ahead and convince Four Seasons, Fairmont, Delta and Legacy hotel chains to begin Dominican operations. Blackwell, to his credit, has already convinced Canadian airlines to start regular flights to the Dominican Republic, something deemed “mission impossible” only months ago.